To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to Doris Miller posthumously for acts of valor while a member of the Navy during World War II.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5549 To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to Doris Miller posthumously for acts of valor while a member of the Navy during World War II. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 7, 2020 Ms. JOHNSON of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to Doris Miller posthumously for acts of valor while a member of the Navy during World War II. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 3 Congress finds the following: 4 (1) Doris Miller, like other African-American 5 sailors of his day, was generally relegated to service- 6 based roles on ships, as the Navy did not allow sail- 7 ors of color to enlist in combat roles. 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5549.IH H5549 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5549 IH (2) Doris Miller was acknowledged in the USS 1 West Virginia Action Report, individually, along 2 with other brave personnel for having ‘‘carried out 3 every order promptly and enthusiastically, even when 4 it meant danger to themselves. They did not attempt 5 to abandon the bridge until ordered to do so’’. 6 (3) Doris Miller aided other service members 7 and ‘‘was instrumental in hauling people along 8 through oil and water to the quarterdeck, thereby 9 unquestionably saving the lives of a number of peo- 10 ple who might otherwise have been lost’’. 11 (4) On December 15, 1941, the Navy released 12 its commendations for actions in Pearl Harbor 13 which included one ‘‘unnamed Negro’’. It wasn’t 14 until March of 1942, at the behest of the NAACP, 15 that the Navy formally recognized Miller’s heroism. 16 (5) Doris Miller was recognized by the Navy 17 and awarded the Navy Cross Medal with the citation 18 reading ‘‘For distinguished devotion to duty, ex- 19 traordinary courage and disregard for his own per- 20 sonal safety during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl 21 Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese forces on 22 December 7, 1941. While at the side of his Captain 23 on the bridge, Miller, despite enemy strafing and 24 bombing and in the face of a serious fire, assisted 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5549.IH H5549 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5549 IH in moving his Captain, who had been mortally 1 wounded, to a place of greater safety, and later 2 manned and operated a machine gun directed at 3 enemy Japanese attacking aircraft until ordered to 4 leave the bridge.’’. 5 (6) On May 27, 1942, Admiral Chester Nimitz 6 personally pinned the Navy Cross to Miller’s left 7 breast pocket while on board the aircraft carrier 8 USS Enterprise. 9 (7) Doris Miller died in action on November 24, 10 1943, on board the USS Liscome Bay in the Pacific 11 Ocean after a single Japanese torpedo sank the ves- 12 sel off the coast of Butaritari Island. 13 (8) Of the 15 sailors who were awarded the 14 Medal of Honor for similar actions taken during the 15 attack on Pearl Harbor, not one was African-Amer- 16 ican. 17 (9) Doris Miller deserves the highest honor the 18 United States can bestow upon a member of the 19 Armed Forces. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5549.IH H5549 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5549 IH SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR POSTHUMOUS AWARD OF 1 MEDAL OF HONOR TO DORIS MILLER FOR 2 ACTS OF VALOR WHILE A MEMBER OF THE 3 NAVY DURING WORLD WAR II. 4 Notwithstanding the time limitations specified in sec- 5 tions 8298(a) and 8300 of title 10, United States Code, 6 or any other time limitation with respect to the awarding 7 of certain medals to persons who served in the Armed 8 Forces, the President is authorized to award the Medal 9 of Honor posthumously, under section 8291 of such title, 10 to Doris Miller (service number 356–12–35) for acts of 11 valor during World War II while a member of the Navy. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5549.IH H5549 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS